Bart Starr: When Leadership Mattered

by David Claerbaut

Overview

As his legendary coach once said, Bart Starr stands for what the game of football stands for: Courage, stamina and coordinated efficiency. This book reveals all the details of Starr's improbable rise to stardom. It explores his relationship with Lombardi and his guidance of the Packers from a downtrodden franchise to five-time World Champions to two-time Super Bowl winners.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781589791176
Publisher:	Taylor Trade Publishing
Publication date:	07/14/2007
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	10.70(w) x 6.08(h) x 1.03(d)

About the Author

David Claerbaut is the author of numerous books, including Recruiting Confidential. He is a business consultant and lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     ix
Nothing Has Happened since the Sixties     1
A Great Quarterback     7
Faith and Will     17
Unlikely Hero     23
College Bound     31
High and Low Tide     37
Character Triumphs     45
Humble Beginnings     51
Illusion     59
Brownout     65
Turnaround Incarnate     75
Sudden Impact     89
Never Again     101
Titletown's Quarterback     113
Not Perfection, but Excellence     125
Almost     141
The Long Road Back     151
At the Summit     161
Challenge III Redux     171
The Drive to the Top     181
Transition     193
Playing with Pain     203
Prayers and Patience     207
Hard Times     215
What Have I Done with My Life?     223
Bibliography     229
Index     231

Editorial Reviews

Bart Starr was the leader of Vince Lombardi's five-time champion Green Bay Packer dynasty in the 1960s and often favorably compared with the greatest quarterbacks in history. Although his personal statistics were not overwhelming, he was at his best in the post-season and won more NFL titles than any other quarterback. He retired in 1972 and then had an unsuccessful nine-year run as Packer coach that ended in 1983; he has since faded from public view. Business consultant Claerbaut recounts Starr's inspirational story of triumph through diligence but by leaning heavily on previous works, in particular Gene Schoor's Bart Starr: A Life and Starr's autobiography, Starr: My Life in Football. Claerbaut's anecdotes and quotes appear to have come from previous sources, and he does not seem to have done any original interviews. The one unique thing that the author does is to apply lessons from basketball great Bill Russell's book on leadership, Russell Rules, to Starr's life. This is a serviceable biography of a Hall of Fame quarterback, but it offers nothing new. Packer fans will be curious, but otherwise not an essential purchase. John Maxymuk, Rutgers Univ. Lib., Camden, NJ Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Claerbaut pulls together a credible and well-written biography of the usually reticent Green Bay Packers hero. With the help of Starr's teammates from the Glory Days, Claerbaut incorporates a history of the Packers during this era as well as a look at the star quarterback, whom few people really know.

Packersnews.Com - Jean Peerenboom

Claerbaut sweeps away the myths and romance surrounding the Packers to reveal what most pro-football experts knew — Starr... was a leader who could inspire a team by his actions.

Tampa Review - Bob D'Angelo

A celebration of one of the flat-top good guys from an era not so terribly long ago.

Birmingham Post-Herald - Scott Adamson

A carefully researched and fluidly written biography of one of football's truly great players and a glimpse inside one of its great teams.

Booklist - Wes Lukowsky

A celebration of one of the flat-top good guys from an era not so terribly long ago.
— Scott Adamson

Birmingham Post-Herald

A carefully researched and fluidly written biography of one of football's truly great players and a glimpse inside one of its great teams.
— Wes Lukowsky

Booklist

Claerbaut sweeps away the myths and romance surrounding the Packers to reveal what most pro-football experts knew — Starr... was a leader who could inspire a team by his actions.
— Bob D'Angelo

Tampa Review

Claerbaut pulls together a credible and well-written biography of the usually reticent Green Bay Packers hero. With the help of Starr's teammates from the Glory Days, Claerbaut incorporates a history of the Packers during this era as well as a look at the star quarterback, whom few people really know.
— Jean Peerenboom

Packersnews.com